Section 32D captures official action affecting the land. The terms are not defined in the Act, so their reach is worked out case by case, and the matter must directly and currently affect the land with the vendor reasonably expected to have knowledge of it. There is no overlap between sections 32C and 32D, so a planning proposal falls under section 32D while it is being considered and moves to section 32C once it passes into the scheme.
A building permit requiring works, and a planning permit, are approved proposals affecting the land, so a copy of a planning permit should be attached, including a positive permit such as one to build units, as in Downing v Lau. A nomination of the property for heritage consideration may be a notice, and there is a separate obligation to notify a buyer of such a nomination, with a right to avoid if it is not disclosed under section 48 of the Heritage Act 2017. Where a notice to acquire land has been served under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986, the buyer may rescind under section 32M of the Sale of Land Act 1962.
Many matters fall outside section 32D. A private consultant's report, a National Trust classification, general notes on rate notices about pool fencing or smoke alarms, and the registration of a pool or spa are generally not notices within the section, while an Environment Protection Authority contamination notice is. For matters such as flooding or termite risk, actual or constructive knowledge on the vendor's part must still be shown.
This is the kind of matter CMK Legal's property and conveyancing team handles.
Establishing the vendor's knowledge can be the harder question, particularly for an owner who does not live locally. An approved proposal on adjoining land may not have sufficient nexus to affect the land sold, which the words directly and currently narrow further.
Law referenced: Sale of Land Act 1962 ss 32D, 32M; Heritage Act 2017 s 48; Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986; Downing v Lau [2018] VCC 33.